Queen Mary’s first paint job in 15 years to restore ship to original colors

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Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, right, and Queen Mary executive John Jenkins paint a ceremonial first brush stroke onto the Queen Mary. It was last painted more than 15 years ago. (Photo by Thomas R. Cordova, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Rust streams down the classic white paint of the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Peeling paint, worn wooden railings, and surface rust are the things visitors spot right away when visiting the Long Beach tourist icon. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

The Queen Mary is about to receive a multi-million dollar facelift as workers embark on an effort to restore and repaint the ship’s exterior facade to its original color scheme.

The first ceremonial brush strokes came on Monday as Mayor Robert Garcia and Queen Mary executive John Jenkins dipped their gold-handled brushes into a tray of white paint and slathered a layer onto the foundation that supports the ship’s three towering smoke stacks.

Standing at a podium on the Sports Deck, Garcia pointed to a few visible spots of deterioration before saying the ship is “finally getting the paint job it deserves,” more than 15 years after its last treatment.

Large chunks of white paint are flaking off the Cunard liner, revealing the steely gray exterior beneath. Rusted residue drips down the sides of the 1,080-foot ocean liner, creating thin vertical layers of corrosion.

“There is no question that it needs a lot of love,” Garcia began, explaining that by spring 2018, when the work is finished, “this ship is going to be radiant; it’s going to look fantastic.”

Between now and then, some 240,000 square feet of the ship will be primed and painted, at a cost of at least $3 million.

During that process, Garcia said some of its current colors may change — including those on the smoke stacks — as the goal is to match the original paint scheme. Executives are still working with Cunard, the British-American cruise line that ran the ship for decades, to determine the exact colors.

The project, expected to revitalize and brighten the aging structure, is part of a $23 million list of restorations approved by the city in March, months after Urban Commons assumed the master leasehold for the ship and some 45 acres of land around it.

During Monday’s press conference, Commodore Everette Hoard told a short tale of the ship’s first paint job in Long Beach, shortly after its December 1967 arrival, while it was dry docked in the now-shuttered Long Beach Naval Shipyard.

“Some 320 tons of paint was sandblasted from the hull of this ship,” he explained. “Some of the paint chips were more than an inch thick, and sandwiched between the colors of the peacetime layers were the wartime layers.”

During World War II, the ship ferried some 800,000 allied troops across the Atlantic.

The commodore recounted the Queen Mary’s various roles during the 31 years it spent at sea, including a period when it was the “grandest ocean liner in the world,” carrying the likes of Hollywood celebrities, royalty and dignitaries. The ship held speed records for 14 years for its transatlantic crossings, between England and New York.

“Out of all the icons in Southern California, the Queen Mary probably has the most meaning,” he said, likening her to iconic tourist attractions across the globe, including the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.

“She is the pride of our city.”

Recognizing the ship’s cultural and historic significance, city leaders and the firm managing the Queen Mary have recently committed to the monumental task of repairing years of neglect and deterioration on board the ship, to the tune of over $200 million worth of work.

Officials learned of the ship’s declining condition last year when a team of naval architects and engineers completed a marine survey that predicted a short life for the Queen Mary if some major renovations were not undertaken immediately.

Long Beach last year committed $23 million toward the project, and Urban Commons committed another $15 million for interior renovations, including the recent revamping of Sir Winston’s, the ship’s premier restaurant.

For weekly progress updates, follow the Queen Mary’s Facebook page, where the marketing team has started a campaign called #FixItFriday, which, every Friday, offers a glimpse into various restoration projects underway.

Courtney Tompkins is a freelancer. Courtney previously covered Long Beach City Hall for the Press-Telegram and local government and education for the Pasadena Star-News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune. She is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where she studied journalism and international relations.